


In a World Where You Hate Us, We Love Each Other

by ThatOneKinkyBitch



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangs, Alternate Universe - Prison, Arson, Crimes & Criminals, Dark, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fist Fights, Gangs, Gun Violence, Heavy Angst, Juvie, Love in dark places, M/M, Mentions of Rape, Minor Character Death, Multi, THE WHOLE DEAL, Tags to be added, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Violence, mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-04-30 23:29:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14507814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneKinkyBitch/pseuds/ThatOneKinkyBitch
Summary: They were broken; beaten and battered to the point where the shards that surrounded their hearts hurt the people around them. It would offend them more if they actually regretted anything they had done. They had let people know the consequences of their hurtful actions, but the one thing they didn't expect was to find the missing pieces of their soul in the rotting walls of this prison.





	1. We're Young, and That Makes Us Dangerous

**Author's Note:**

> Gonna be Westernized/Canadian-ized, if only because I'm not entirely sure on the differences between the Korean justice system and the one here. (Hell I'm not even sure I'm familiar with this one.)

Jooheon still remembered the embers that filled his vision as he set his school ablaze. The warmth reaching his face brought a wry smirk to his lips, and he prayed--to a god that he knew abandoned him--that everyone who had thought to mistreat him was forced to face the flames.

_Everyday he would walk through those doors, almost quaking in fear. He would be terrified that someone would drag him by his collar to the back of the school, to beat hi, until he turned black and blue; or passed out, whichever came first. He'd slink through the halls, trying to avoid any scrutinizing eyes as he headed to his classes.  One day was his breaking point. After his daily beating, he noticed one of his attackers had left their lighters next to him on teh ground._

_It was finally time that the people of his high school understood the hell they'd made him endure._

_He stuck around until there were only a few people left on campus, making a beeline for the science lab. He made sure to stay out of the cameras' view and pulled out the bobby pins he found on the gym floor and bent to the shape he needed to pick the lock._

_"What cha doin'?" a voice asked, and Jooheon almost fucking shit himself._

_"I--Uh--"_

_"Actually, it looks pretty illegal, so I don't want details." Jooheon took in the boy's appearance, and the only thing he knew about him was that his last name was Im. "I'll watch the door; just don't take too long."_

_"What--"_

_"Look, I've seen how the people here treat you..." the boy said softly, locking eyes with Jooheon. "Whatever it is, they probably deserve it. So just go and do your thing." With confusion in his eyes and a rare, soft warmth in his heart, Jooheon headed into the lab._

_He looked over the cabinets, opening each one--seriously, could no one be bothered to lock these up?--and reached for the white plastic jar that contained the potassium. Looking around, he finally spotted a small pair of tweezers, probably used to help decorate their teacher's overly-tacky nails. He plucked a beaker form the rack and filled with water as he grabbed some of the paper towels to his right. Grabbing a handful, Jooheon spread the papers all around the room, and he trusted that the wood of the desks and the door jams would work in his favour. He went back to the teacher's bench and opened the jar, pulling out the smaller container that actually contained the alkali metal, and twisted off the lid with great care. He picked the tweezers back up and plucked a piece of potassium from the jar, covering his eyes and turning his face away. The second the grip loosened, he was running; he didn't even notice he had grabbed the stranger's hands as he left the room._

_Once they were out of the building, they were panting and high on adrenaline and wearing crazed smiles, the other boy spoke up._

_"So, you just set the school on fire." The words grounded Jooheon a little, brought him down from the could he found himself upon, but there was still only a lightness in his heart._

_"And you let me do it, uh..."_

_"Changkyun. The name's Changkyun Im."_ _Changkyun's wry smirk made something in Jooheon's heart flutter, and suddenly there were sirens in the distance. "Shit, we gotta go."_

_Jooheon let himself get dragged away form the alley by Changkyun, and eventually they got far away enough that they couldn't hear the sirens or see the flames. He looked into Changkyun's eyes as his lungs tried to fill themselves with air properly. They walked over to a convenience store, walking in as if they hadn't just committed a felony._

_"You got a favourite type of drink?" Changkyun asked as his eyes raked over the wall of refrigerated drinks_

_Jooheon mumbled out a 'sprite' before pulling out his wallet. When Changkyun smiled softly and shook his head, Jooheon felt a flush rush to his cheeks. "I got it, don't worry."_

It had gone on for a week or so before they were finally caught, but in that week, they'd grown almost inseparable. Since their school was nothing else but a pile of burnt rubble, they had no classes, and as such spent their days together, walking about the streets of their city. Somewhere along the way they'd developed a certain liking for each other and Jooheon learned to love the feel of Changkyun's soft lips against his own.

They knew there had to be some sort of plan if they got caught; leaving the country would be impossible, seeing as they're both still minors, so they would just have to... roll with the punches. Changkyun swore up and down that he would protect Jooheon until they were able to sit outside of prison--or juvie--walls again, and Jooheon had never felt so loved in his seventeen years of living.

Things hadn't gone like that. They'd spent their time in juvie together before Jooheon turned eighteen and was moved to an actual prison; but even when Changkyun himself had turned eighteen, he wasn't sent to the same prison as Jooheon had been. He could only assume it was because his crime hadn't been as severe as Jooheon's. Despite that, Jooheon still missed his little guardian with all his heart, and he was counting the seconds until he was able to see him again.

And wasn't that crazy? He'd barely known the kid for a week before he was close to saying three special little words and  _meaning it_. God, this was not how Jooheon planned his life to go, but he was sure of one thing; he wanted Changkyun back and in his arms.

He was constantly watching his back without Changkyun around. That meant that when there was a presence behind him, like right then, Jooheon was already looking at his surroundings for something to defend himself with. He ended up sitting down at a relatively empty spot in the cafeteria and started chowing down on the sorry excuse for food. The man was still approaching him, and he felt his shoulders tense up as he neared.

"Oh calm down, kid." Jooheon turned around to see a  _beautiful_ man standing there, and he wasn't aware such ethereal people ended up in prison. He was slim, with pale skin and high cheekbones, and his thin eyes sharp and calculating. His lips were petal pink, and were... the same colour as his hair? "Yeah, I know, pink hair; don't focus on it. But that's not why I'm here." The man with the pink hair sat in front of him, dark eyes boring into Jooheon. "You're like a lost puppy in here, and people are going to pick up on that; you should join my friends and I."

"No... no, I'm good. Thanks though, Mr...?"

He didn't crack a smile--or a smirk, like Changkyun had--but just maintained eye contact with Jooheon. "Kihyun Yoo." Kihyun looked to something behind Jooheon, and then another boy with a longer face than Kihyun's but kind, beautiful eyes and soft white hair sauntered over.

"Kihyun, don't scare the kid; poor boy misses his pet." Jooheon looked to the new addition with a wide-eyed, offended stare. 

"How the hell do you two bastards even know who the hell I am?" the boy spat

"Well, for one I'm Minhyuk Lee, and two," Minhyuk smirked before he continued, "my friends and I are tryn'a save your ass from the world you were tryin' so damn hard to get out of; you wouldn't wanna get your ass raped raw by some a' the brutes here because you were  _antisocial_ , would ya?" Jooheon lurched forward at the lighter-haired male, teethe bared and fists clenched.

"Are you  _threatening me_?" Kihyun let out a soft sigh as he flicked Minhyuk's thigh.

"No, believe it or not. He wants to make sure you don't get hurt, he just..." Kihyun locked eyes with Minhyuk, making his eye blank. "Doesn't know how to do that successfully."

"D'aw, thanks baby," Minhyuk cooed; Jooheon was much too scared to ask about the actual nature of their relationship.

"Are you gonna leave me alone now?"

"For now, but we'll be back." Both Kihyun and Minhyuk walked off, leaving Jooheon to stare at his food, lost in thought.

Remember when he said prison would be better than life out of it? Yeah, he was beginning to rethink that statement in its entirety.

o.O.o

Jooheon prides himself on the fact that he's made minimal people angry for the duration of his stay, but sometimes there are just situations where his intervention is required.

This was one of those times.

He was really just walking around for his allotted free time when he noticed something going on in the far corner.

"Listen up,  _pixie_ , you better stop lookin' at me and my crew or I'm making sure you never make it out of here." Jooheon stopped in his tracks when he heard the words. Sighing, he followed the sound of the voice and rounded a corner--devoid of security cameras--to see a toned man hitting the man he had pinned to the wall.

"Hey, Alexander!" Jooheon called. As the attacker turned around, the man that was pinned fell to the ground with a soft 'oof'. "Yeah,  _you_. Stop ragging on the guy, will you?" 

"Turn around now and I might not hurt you,  _bitch_."

Jooheon let out a put-upon sigh. "You know, you're calling that guy a pixie, but if I heard correctly, you were the one that was fucking your cellmate into the sheets." Was it mean to call him out like that? Maybe, but he really couldn't care less in that moment.

He evaded Alexander as he lunged for him. "Now, leave my friend alone and you might still have a reputation in tact." The other man scoffed, almost lunged at Jooheon again, but ended up walking away with a glare to the person on the floor. 

Jooheon turned around to pick the stranger up, but he was already standing up on his own. He was almost all legs, with full lips set in an unimpressed frown. His eyebrows were strong and drawn together as he picked pieces of gravel from his uniform. "Minhyuk said you were cute, but I didn't think you'd be my night in shining armour." At the sound of Minhyuk's name, Jooheon tensed up.

"Minhyuk  _Lee_?"

"The one and only," the stranger affirmed, finally looking up to meet Jooheon's eyes. He held out his hand as he spoke again. "Name's Hyungwon." Jooheon nodded a little, holding out his hand as well.

"Jooheon, but something tells me you knew that." Hyungwon smirked as clasped his hand around Jooheon's. 

"Minhyuk won't shut up." His eyes wracked over Jooheon's body as his smirk deepened. "And I can see  _why_." Jooheon felt the tips of his ears run hot as he broke their eye contact. "But you should start sticking with us; you may just need it." 

"I'm sorry, aren't  _you_ just the one that was pinned against a wall?" His comment didn't seem to faze Hyungwon, who only chuckled.

"Yeah, and if he'd gone on a second longer, I would've kicked him so hard in the dick that his balls receded into his body."

Jooheon scoffed. "You're all insane, really; just leave me the fuck alone." He started to walk away, but the man's next words caught his attention.

"There's a rumor," Hyungwon said, "that your boy toy managed to get transferred here." Jooheon's feet planted themselves to the ground and his mind froze. 

"Chang... Changkyun's coming?" he whispered, turning around to lock eyes with Hyungwon.

"Mm-hm, and this isn't juvie anymore, baby; you two need more than just each other to stay safe." Jooheon looked Hyungwon up and down, and for the first time since Kihyun sat down in front of him did he consider agreeing.

"Why are you so  _intent_ on getting me to join your little group?" 

"Hyunwoo was the one that asked about you actually." God, how many of these guys  _were there_? "Let's just say we have a plan and you both could be a very valuable asset." Jooheon narrowed his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. "We can keep Changkyun safe, if that's what you're worried about."

"Dude, you can't even protect  _yourself_." He almost expected Hyungwon so glare and smack him, but he only laughed.

"You think I'm trying to make a mess? No, I didn't waste my energy on a useless, buffed up moron," he teased, "but if you're worried about being protected, Hoseok and Hyunwoo are fuckin'  _jacked_."

"Who're Hoseok and Hyunwoo?"

"People you'll get to meet if you join our little group of renegades." Hyungwon walked closer to him, bringing up a teasing finger to ghost along Jooheon's jaw. "So, angel, you in?" Jooheon ignored the fluttering in his heart, but took a deep breath and said:

"Yeah."


	2. Beauty Is A Weapon and I'm Using It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyungwonho's backstory

It was no secret Hyungwon was beautiful; everyone knew it, whether or not they were attracted to him. His legs went on for miles and his lips looked soft as pillows. So, naturally, when his parents kicked him out of the house for  _wanting to waste his life on something as useless as modelling_ , he needed to make some money to survive.

Hyungwon's beauty made it  _very_ easy to become a stripper.

 _He hated it, if he was being honest. Not because he didn't like flaunting his body--lord knows he's done it more times than he can count--but it's because he can't control when or_ how much _he shows. The club he worked out also sent out strippers for parties and such, but Hyungwon had never met one of them. Something about no relationships in this line of work. He found it pretty arrogant that the highet-ups were so confident in their strippers's attractiveness, but he digressed._

_During his time at the club, he hadn't once been forced into something he didn't want. The people there were reasonable when they had to be and Hyungwon appreciated that. That being said, making a profit is the first thing on their mind, every second of the day. When Hyungwon got into the backroom, he noticed different people, the people who ran the club, looking at him with mirth._

_"Mr. Chae," one called, Jersey accent thick as his chapped lips curving into a wry smirk. "We need you to do a favour for us."_

_"What..._ sort _of favour?" Fear settled into his stomach as they approached him._

 _"One of our hookas couldn't show up tonight; somethin'  bout'a late cycle. We didn't pay attention to details." Oh_ fuck _. "You need'a step in for her. The customer's a huge paya."_

 _"I don't sell sex, sir. I'm a stripper; they're only supposed to_ look at me _." They stalked even closer to him, so Hyungwon had no choice but to backup until he felt his back hit the wall._

_"Listen, doll, you're this clubs' property, and if you won't do what we say, I'm afraid we're going to have to take some action." Holding back a whimper, Hyungwon nodded; frankly, he had no plans to die anytime soon._

_He had to leave soon if he wanted to get to the customer's house on time, so Hyungwon simply tugged on his regular clothes over the ones he wore at the club--if you could even_  qualify _them as clothes_. _Boarding the bus and double checking what stop he needed to get off on his phone, he let his head drop to the side and hit the window._

_The address was actually a hotel, which meant there was a chance of other people hearing._

Lovely _._

_Steeling himself for the absolute worst, we walked into the lobby and asked kindly for the man known as Wonho. After the receptionist gave him a smile that was quite obviously rehearsed, he nodded and took the elevator up to the first floor. He looked down the hallways until he found the room number, knocking softly when he reached it._

_"Coming!"_ At least he has a nice voice _, Hyungwon thought absently--_

_Oh fucking shit he looked as nice as he sounded._

_His eyes were oddly kind for a man with such a strong, built stature, with his lips almost bitten red and a pronounced jaw. His hair, honey brown and flipped to one side, looked soft and Hyungwon really wanted to know what it would feel like between his fingers._

_"I, uh, thought they'd be sending a girl."_

_Hyungwon smacked his hand against his forehead as he cursed his life._ _"Oh for--did they just send me here when you aren't even_ into guys _?" A soft laugh came from in front of him, and holy_ shit _, was this guy_ real _?_

_"I never said that," Wonho explained, "I just said I thought they'd send a girl. You know, being seen with a guy would be catastrophic."_

_"Oof, then imagine a guy_ prostitute. _" Wonho full out laughed that time, and maybe, just_ maybe _, this wouldn't be as bad as Hyungwon thought._

_"You wanna, um, come in?"_

_Hyungwon flushed and scurried inside, brushing against Wonho and getting a small taste of just how_ strong _the guy was._ _The room was nice, the furniture was pretty up to date and--Oh, okay, those were Wonho's lips on his neck._

 _"Anything you're not comfortable with, baby?" Hyungwon would love to say_ 'this entire thing' _, but settled with:_

_"You can do whatever you want." The small tremor in Hyungwon's voice went unnoticed as Wonho's hands slowly glide along Hyungwon's chest. As his fingers press against his skin through the fabric of his shirt, Hyungwon let out a small gasp. "Fuck, Wonho."_

_"Don't call me that," the other said, voice dipping low. "Call me Hoseok; it's my real name." Hyungwon nodded meekly, relishing in the feeling of Hoseok's teeth nipping at his neck. Before he knew what was happening, He was being picked up, strong hands gripping his thighs and Hyungwon wrapped his arms around the other man's neck instinctively._

_"Holy shit," he whispered. Hoseok didn't bother with a response, but there was definitely a smirk pressed against the column of his neck. Soon enough, Hyungwon was lying against the soft sheets of the bed, with Hoseok between is legs and stars forming in his vision._

_o.O.o_

_Panting, Hoseok rolled off of Hyungwon with a satisfied smile. "I like to think I did a good job."_

_"You_ did _, until, you know, you pointed it out."_

_Hoseok laughed again, all his teeth showing with a sparkle in his eyes, and suddenly Hyungwon felt like a school girl with a crush on the jock. "_ _Touché."_

_"So," Hyungwon started, "how does this work? You pay me now or did you already pay for me?" In a flash Hoseok's grin was gone and he was looking down at him with concern._

_"Um, the place you work for has an online option... haven't you done this before?"_

_Hyungwon shook his head._ _"Nope. Usually a stripper but apparently I needed to step in." He peeked up from behind his arm to lock eyes with Hoseok. "In fact, you're the first person who's dicked me down."_

 _"Oh, fuck."  Hoseok was up and off the bed immediately, running to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. "Why did you_ say anything _!?"_

_Hyungwon shrugged. "Part of the job description, apparently. Wasn't what I signed up for but my life was basically threatened so I decided to come."_

_"Oh my god then_ tell me _! I would've just watched a movie with you or some shit!"_

_Hyungwon felt the familiar blush from earlier rise to his cheeks as he looked at Hoseok again._ _"You mean that...?"_

_"Yes! By God you shouldn't be forced to have sex if it isn't even what you signed up for."_

_Hyungwon smirked as the other man got back into the bed, handing him the glass of water. "Well, you were very good to me if it's any consolation."_

_It really wasn't, but Hoseok only smiled._

_Hyungwon left soon after, bidding a shy farewell to Hoseok before he got back on the bus. He wished he could meet the man again some day, but as nice as that would be, it was highly unlikely. So, Hyungwon went back to his usual routine of flaunting his body on a stage and putting on a fake, sultry smile for men who were too-many times his age._

_But then he looked up and saw those same kind eyes from weeks ago and his heart stopped and fluttered all at once. Finishing up his routine with a renewed energy, he ran off as fast as he could to talk to Hoseok._

_Such was not the outcome, however._

_Before Hyungwon could call out for the other man, there was a meaty hand covering his his mouth and a body dragging him to one of the rooms in the back. He tried thrashing as hard as he could against the person dragging him away, but it was useless. Screaming did nothing to reach anyone's ears over the pounding bass in the club, So Hyungwon just hoped he could sweet talk his way out of this one._

_"What the_ fuck _did you_ do _!?" his boss shouted, throwing Hyungwon against the far wall. "Wonho was one 'a our_ best _customers, but after_ your _whore ass sunk down on his dick he stopped payin'!" Shouldn't Hyungwon's heart be fluttering in that moment? Absolutely the fuck not, but the idea of Hoseok only wanting him made him happy. "I asked you a_ question _!"_

_"I don't fucking know!"_ _Before he could blink there was a flash of red-hot pain across his cheek. A small cut formed on his cheek from the rings that adorned the man's fingers, but he ignored the pain in favour of glaring daggers at him._

_"Don't you_ dare _talk back to me ya piece 'a garbage--!"_

_"I think that's enough out of you." Hyungwon looked over the man shoulder too see a pleasantly familiar face._

_"Ho--Wonho!" He got a wink from Hoseok before the latter turned to Hyungwon's boss._

_"Leave him alone, Jerry." Hyungwon had to hold back a snicker._ Jerry _?_

_"This slag is costin' me big bucks--!"_

_"_ My _big bucks. So get away from him before I ruin your reputation."_

 _"You_ wouldn't _."  
_

_"Get away from Hyungwon and you won't have to find out." There was a glint of metal in the corner of Hyungwon's eye and_ oh _, Jerry owned a gun._

_This day just kept getting better._

_Suddenly Hyungwon was staring down the barrel of the gun as panic filled his senses._

_"You keep runnin' ya mouth and the cunt here dies." His boss didn't seem all too focused on Hyungwon himself, instead making wild threats to Hoseok and his career. Hoseok didn't make eye contact with Hyungwon, but there was a small nod from him and Hyungwon was grabbing the gun before he knew what he was doing. Pointing it at his boss, he circled his way over to Hoseok, who stood behind him. "You wouldn't shoot me. I'm the one that saved you from_ death _! If you hadn't met me you would'a starved to death in the cold rain!"_

 _"Oh get over yourself," Hyungwon sneered. "Now you better promise Wonho and I safety or I_ will _pull this trigger." One of Jerry's hands reached into his back pocket and Hyungwon froze up. Sensing the other's hesitation, Hoseok grabbed the gun from his hands and aimed right between the boss' eyes. Jerry's body crumpled to the floor as dark crimson blood started to poor from the wound. Hyungwon couldn't bring himself to look away from the eyes that were slowly losing life. He  felt his hands shake from where they were still outstretched in front of him, even as Hoseok brought him into his arms._

_"It'll be okay, 'Wonnie, don't worry."_

_The only thing he was_ doing _was worrying._

To their credit, they tried for the self defence bit, but turns out Jerry had been reaching for his wallet to pay them off rather than a knife. Hyungwon would be lying if he said he regretted a thing.

"Do you regret it?" Hyungwon asked over a spoonful of... whatever it was. Didn't taste bad, though. 

"What, killing the guy?" Hyungwon nodded in confirmation. "Not for a damn second. I thought he was going to hurt you and I will always do everything in my power to stop that." The younger blushed and nodded.

"You know I'd do the same for you, right...?" Hoseok flashed his boyfriend one of his blinding smiles and hummed.  Giving a mental middle finger to anyone around him, Hoseok put his hand over Hyungwon's.

"I do."


	3. You Saved Me From the Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ShowKiHyuk????? Is that a thing? Anyway, this is their backstory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mentions of emotional abuse

Minhyuk was a goddamn ball of sunshine. Hyunwoo and Kihyun knew this. It was why they always hung around him, because no matter where Minhyuk was, he always made the place brighter. He'd always been like that, actually, even in the grips of his unloving father.

Until, one day, he didn't shine so bright.

_Kihyun and Hyunwoo tried to take Minhyuk out as much as they could, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. They'd both started dating a couple months back, and in an attempt to let their relationship grow, Minhyuk started cancelling on them more and more. Sadly, that almost always meant more time that Minhyuk was forced to spend around his father and both Kihyun and Hyunwoo knew that could lead to nothing good._

_"Minhyuk,_ please _? You never go out with us anymore." Minhyuk smiled sadly as he sat in front of his computer._

_"I know, and 'm sorry, but I swear this time I really can't fudge it; I have to write a thousand-word essay on why I took the picture that I took for my project." Kihyun scrunched his nose up in distaste._

_"Ew."_

_"Mm-hm."_

_"But..." Minhyuk raised an eyebrow at his friend. "What if Hyunwoo and I joined you? We won't be loud and we won't be grossly lovey-dovey. We just want to spend time with you, Min."_

_"Ya haven't called me that in_ years _. I like it." Kihyun smiled softly before perching himself on Minhyuk's bed._

_"Good. Now, what food do you want Hyunwoo to pick up?"_

_"Those really bomb breadsticks from that little pizza place on Mackenzie."_

_"...Just breadsticks."_

_"Always breadsticks, Kihyun._ Always _."_

_Kihyun shook his head fondly at Minhyuk's antics; for as long as he could remember, Minhyuk's favourite part of any meal was the breadsticks, even if it wasn't on the menu._

**_"But like," young Minhyuk would say, "breadsticks are a must."_ **

**_"...This is a Thai restaurant, Minhyuk."_ **

**_"Doesn't matter."_ **

_Not long after Kihyun texted Hyunwoo was the eldest walking through the front door with arms_ _full of food. Kihyun grinned and ran to press a kiss to the elder's lips._

_"WHAT HAPPENED TO NO PDA, YOO?" Kihyun flushed crimson at Minhyuk's shout and Hyunwoo's cheesy smile._

_"Sorry!" Minhyuk shook his head in mock disappointment as he plucked the paper bag from the top of the pile. "How are you so skinny, again?"_

_"Ballet keeps one in shape."_

_"You realize you're just a skinny-fat kid, right?"_

_Minhyuk grinned around his bite of breadstick. "A_ happy _skinny-fat kid. That's all that matters." Kihyun ignored the warmth in his chest at his friend's smile and snuggled into Hyunwoo's_ very _muscled chest. They watched Minhyuk type away on the open word tab before the cursor stopped moving and words stopped forming. "You guys need to either talk to each other or stop looking at me because it's fucking_ creepy _." Hyunwoo laughed sheepishly and apologized, starting to talk to Kihyun about his day._

_Kihyun couldn't lie, he was only half-paying attention to what his boyfriend was saying, because every now and then Minhyuk's hands would stop typing and they would clench so hard they quaked. He really hoped Minhyuk was okay._

_"MINHYUK!" Ah, his father was home._

_"Hyun," Kihyun whispered, "you're good at talking his dad down. Distract him so I can hide Minhyuk's food, okay?"_

_See, they had a system when it came to dealing with Minhyuk's father; get Hyunwoo to distract his father with his charm and maturity, while Kihyun removed anything from Minhyuk's room that would set Mr. Lee off. Those things included food and any of the small watercolour paintings Minhyuk did. It had been too many times that his father would scream scathing words about how a dancer shouldn't eat so much and that drawing was a waste of his life._

_Kihyun always grinned to himself when he found Minhyuk munching on a cinnamon bun while he mixed a new colour._

_"Hey, Minhyuk, you okay?" A sarcastic smile graced Minhyuk's lips as he looked up from behind his hands._

_"He threatened to kick me out," he muttered. Kihyun furrowed his brows as he walked over, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm gonna be_ homeless _, Ki. I'm barely managing to pay for art school, I can't afford a place to_ live _\--"_

_"Minnie," Kihyun started softly as he collected the dancer into his arms, "you can join Hyunwoo and I in our apartment until you're finished school." Minhyuk pulled away with wide eyes, shaking his head.  
_

_"I can't ask that of you, Kihyun, I'm not gonna be able to leave for a_ while _\--"_

_"You can't expect me to leave you and let you abandon your dreams, Minhyuk. We can work you into our budget and Hyun and I can just shower together instead of apart." Minhyuk let out a small, reluctant noise, but moved closer to Kihyun._

_No one was with Minhyuk when his father came bursting into the room, screaming at Minhyuk to get out, but he didn't mind. He grabbed the bag he'd packed a few weeks ago, filled with his painting supplies, laptop, and his very favourite clothes and walked the whole thirty minutes to his friends' shared apartment. He thought about the hell he'd have to endure for as long as he lived there. He'd had a crush on them_ both _for the longest time, but the day he decided to confess his feelings was the same day they decided to come out as a couple, so Minhyuk swallowed down his words and plastered on a grin. But now he was going to run the risk of seeing Hyunwoo's golden skin in all it's bare glory and Kihyun's lithe body that he never exposed beyond his neck--_

 _Oh fuck he was going to hear the_ fucking _, wasn't he? Oh god just put him out of his misery. Groaning, he pressed the buzzer and groaned even louder when the gate clicked open._

 _It was fine. This was fine. Minhyuk was fine. He would be_ fine.

 _But then he walked in through the front door of their apartment and he broke down; it was homey and there's blankets strewn about the couch and what the_ fuck _was Minhyuk_ doing _trying to ruin this perfect little life they got going on here? A small mewl come from his right and he looked through tear-filled eyes to see a cat sitting there._ God _there was no place for him there. They had a pet and each other and they didn't need a fourth body in the place. They were a happy, complete puzzle that didn't need another piece--_

 _"Minhyuk? What happened."_ Oh god, don't talk to me so kindly _._

_"Go away, no, stop it--"  
_

_"Hyunwoo! Come here!" Minhyuk kept shaking his head as Kihyun talked to him. "Minnie, please, talk to me."_

_"You guys can't love me, not like you love each other," he dancer sobbed out._

_Kihyun shook his head to clear his thoughts before moving closer to Minhyuk. Minhyuk tuned out of everything they said after that, barely registering a pair of strong arms lifting him up and setting him down on the couch._

_"Minhyuk," Hyunwoo called softly, "do you want to try and tell us what's going on again?" Yet again, the dancer shook his head. "Alright, well then we'll wait with you until you are."_

_True to their word, they did; they waited for his heaves to turn into hiccups and his sobs into whimpers. Hyunwoo had his arms around the younger's waist, grip tight and sturdy, while Kihyun's hands were all over Minhyuk's legs, trying to comfort him as much as he could. Minhyuk took a small breath, saving their scents to memory and steadying himself to speak once more._

_"I can... I can talk now, if you want me to..." he whispered._

_Hyunwoo nodded against Minhyuk's neck. "Take your time." And so Minhyuk let out every thought about the two men in front of him him that he had for the past month. He let them know that he wanted so badly to be a part of their life, to be the person that fed the cat at night because_ you're both grandpas and you're never up past 5 _\--an exaggeration, but one they appreciated. But then he spiraled down and said that maybe that's how it was meant to be, because grandpas were the ones to sit on the rocking chairs on the porch and Minhyuk just didn't fit in with them. Kihyun kept opening his mouth to intervene, but one look from Hyunwoo was enough to get it closed again. Minhyuk needed to get this off his chest._

 _Eventually he calmed down entirely, making sure to look anywhere but Hyunwoo and Kihyun; sadly, such was not their plan. Kihyun took Minhyuk's jaw between his thumb and index finger, leaning forward and pressing a searing kiss to his lips. Minhyuk let out a noise that almost resembled a scream, even though he didn't make a move to pull away. Kihyun broke the kiss with a small nip to Minhyuk's lightly chapped lips. Hyunwoo let out a noise of content as he kissed Minhyuk, but he was so much_ gentler _than Kihyun had been, but he couldn't bring himself to mind._

_"You can give the cat dinner, Minnie," Kihyun said, voice soft, and that was probably the best thing Minhyuk had ever heard._

_Things went great after that, actually. Nothing much changed between them, except there were more kisses and cuddles during movies, but you wouldn't hear Minhyuk complaining. They never talk about Minhyuk's father, never talked about how he left his mother to come home to a monster all by herself, but he knew that he made the right decision._

_Or at least, that's what he had_ thought _._

 _See, his mother had always been a kind soul, but after their father started drinking due to his unemployment, things went downhill and both Minhyuk and his mother had to protect themselves. He pretended he didn't notice when she'd limp or have more foundation and concealer on than normal, because if he_ did _, he'd feel guilt clawing at him for weeks._

_Kihyun and Hyunwoo were running late from their trip to the grocery store, because Kihyun needed the fish oil to make the dinner he had planned, and the Sobey's down the street just didn't want to fulfill his needs. Minhyuk sent a cute selfie back, captioned with an 'I miss youu~' and jumped onto their now-shared bed with a small 'oof!' He heard the front door jiggling, and suddenly his senses went into overdrive. It was physically impossible for his boyfriends to be back so soon, so anyone else at the door could very well mean trouble._

_Grabbing a small knife from the kitchen and making his footfalls as light as possible, he walked towards the door. Looking through the peephole, he saw a familiar face on the other side of the door. "Mom...?"_

_"Minhyuk, please let an old woman in." Minhyuk threw the knife away, praising himself when it landed just under the couch, and opened the door with a bright smile._

_"Uh, hey," he softly greeted. His mother didn't respond, only brushing past Minhyuk to walk further into the apartment. "Mom? You need something?" Once again he received no response, only the cold gaze of his mother rolling over every nook and cranny of his living space._

_"This is where you ran off to, hm? To live a nice life while I had to deal with your_ father _?" Minhyuk's brows drew together in confusion._

_"Um, mom, you know I had to--"_

_"No, you_ didn't _have to," his mother spat. She stepped closer to him, and suddenly Minhyuk was realizing what a mistake throwing that knife away was._

_"Mom, stop it, your'e scaring me."_

_"No, you know what's scary, son? Living in fear that one day you'll be hit so hard you lose your life." Minhyuk tried backing up in the direction of the couch, but his mother was letting him do anything but. "Or maybe that you'll move the wrong way and you'll have to feel those_ disgusting _hands on you_ again _." He felt tears well up in his eyes, sadness for his mother showing itself in his clenched jaw._

 _"I'm_ sorry _\--"_

_"NO! NO YOU'RE NOT!" Minhyuk flinched back heavily at the screech from his mother. God, when were Kihyun and Hyunwoo coming back? "BECAUSE IF YOU WERE, YOU WOULD'VE SAVED ME, TOO!" He ran around her and ducked for the knife under the couch. He felt his mother jump on top of him, hitting him and demanding answers to questions he couldn't begin to comprehend in his panicked state. He felt the plastic of the handle under his fingers, clasping his fingers around it at pulling it out. His mother, with reflexes he didn't know she had, grabbed his wrist and flicked it to the right, making the knife skid towards the front door._

_Fuck._

_He bumped his hips up, making his mother fall off of his back. She reached for a glass bottle on the table, and amidst all the chaos, he didn't hear the front door opening. His arms were in front of his face, ready for the cuts to form on his arms, but the only thing that followed was a scream of pain. Looking up, he saw Hyunwoo standing there, holding a knife embedded into his mother's side._

_"If I remove this knife," he explained, "you bleed out, so I advise you to keep a level head about you, hm?"  Little amounts of crimson covered Hyunwoo's knuckles, and was it sick to think that it complimented his honey skin beautifully? Eh. "Why did you come here to attack our Minhyukie, hm? I don't think that's very nice of you."_

_"Hyunwoo just kill her, will you?"_

_Minhyuk locked eyes with Kihyun from the latter's place in the doorway to the kitchen, crumpling up a ball of plastic bags._

_Hyunwoo raised a brow at Kihyun. "This is still his mother, Kihyun." The dancer shook his head, slowly placing his hand over Hyunwoo's._

_"No, see, the problem with that statement is," he said, twisting the blade a few degrees to the right, "I haven't had a mother to support me in years." A further twist. "And you haven't had a son to come and save you in just as long." In a flash of tanned skin, glinting silver, and crimson droplets, Minhyuk drove the knife up into his mother's sternum. "I wouldn't have to do this if you had just let it go." Tears welled up in his eyes again as he looked at the contrast between his mother's ivory complexion and the dark blood. "Let me be_ happy _." He pulled the knife out, then, watched the blood slowly run from her body as her eyes lost what was left of their shine, and he cried. Cried into Hyunwoo's shoulder as he held Kihyun's hand, whimpered when the police finally came to take them away, but when he finally saw them both again in the lunch area of the prison, he grinned wildly._

"We're getting out, you know," Minhyuk pointed out, looking at his two boyfriends.

"We will if we get the last piece of the puzzle," Hyunwoo muttered.

Kihyun scoffed. "Changkyun Im is a puppy that follows any order Jooheon gives him. Everything after Jooheon just falls into place." Minhyuk smirked as he locked eyes with their newest target, waggling his fingers in a wave. Changkyun  _was_ as cute as the rumours said.


	4. And So It Begins...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun and Jooheon join the group and plans start to form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small, kind of mature scene. Nothing explicit yet.

His past inmates called him crazy for trying to get in here, but they didn't understand the nervousness tugging at his heart every day he was away from Jooheon. So, he acted up, got into a shit tonne of fights and showcased a little bit of crazy behaviour to wind up where Jooheon was. He succeeded, thank god, but now he had to  _find_ Jooheon. His eyes roamed over the lunch area and locked eyes with a man on the far end. His eyes held an impish glint that matched the white of his hair. He looked to the rest of the table's inhabitants, he noticed two built men, one with doe eyes and the other with small, pouty lips, and  _pretty_ men? That was a new one. The one with pink hair had no amusement in his sharp eyes while the one with full lips was always smiling at the guy with the doe eyes. Then he landed on the last occupant and--

"Jooheon!" he whispered, elated. Making sure to be on his best behaviour, he walked over to the table with calm strides. The man with the playful smirk waved at him, and despite his confusing aura, he was truly beautiful. As he stood in front of the table, all eyes turned to him except Jooheon's, who was focusing on picking apart the dark blotches from his food.

"Jooheony," Doe Eyes called, "I think you're going to want to see this."

"Nothing is more important than making sure these spawns of hell are out of my food." Changkyun smiled fondly at Jooheon, because even though he'd spent so much time in prison, his attitude hadn't been changed.

"Jooheon, your boytoy's here." Changkyun held back a cry of indignation.  _Boytoy_? What the fuck was  _happening_? Immediately, Jooheon's head snapped up and looked to Changkyun. A beat passed before there were tears in his soft eyes, and he moved to hug Changkyun, but Sharp Eyes held him down by his thigh.

"Don't get out of hand, Jooheon. People will know he's your weakness." Jooheon sat back down, but his eyes didn't leave Changkyun for a second.

He sat down next to Jooheon, barely catching the softly whispered, "I missed you," to which Changkyun could only smile fondly and brush his leg against the elder's.

"I missed you, too."

"So, Im, tell us about yourself. How'd you end up in prison in the first place?" Changkyun tensed up, looking to Jooheon like a lost puppy. With a soft smile of reassurance, Jooheon placed his hand on Changkyun's knee and explained just how they ended up where they did.

"You didn't even hesitate to protect him," Pouty Mouth pointed out. Flushing, Changkyun looked to the side and shrugged. "Why is that?"

"I, uh, I'd always had a crush on Jooheon..." Jooheon choked on his food, prompting Hoseok to rub his back in comfort. "And I wasn't about to let him go down alone."

"Fiercely loyal, I like that," Full Lips said, nodding in approval.

"But that can be dangerous if he starts  _crushing_ on the wrong person." Changkyun flinched at the tone Sharp Eyes used, but he had to admit there was a point to be made about his drastic actions.

"Who exactly _are_ you people?" 

"Crazy fuckers who are constantly flirting with me." Jooheon turned to Changkyun with a pout. "They all tease me, Kkungie,  _save me_." Changkyun smiled at Jooheon, even as the people around the table introduced themselves. Changkyun watched as they all ate, afraid to ask for food from anyone there. It made his stomach growl, despite the fact that he knew the food was sort of gross.

"Rule one of being in our little group, Im," Kihyun started, pushing over his tray of left overs, "we look out for each other." Blushing and ducking his head, he mumbled a thanks and ate the rest of the food.

o.O.o

Kihyun was itching to jump into Hyunwoo's and Minhyuk's arms like he used to. He absolutely loved the affection they gave him, because Minhyuk was taller than him and it was so perfect when Kihyun could just rest his head on his shoulder and take in the dancer's scent. And Hyunwoo was all strength and kindness, and no scary thoughts could breach his sturdy embrace. It took everything in him to not climb them both like a tree, but he did what he had to do; if anyone saw how much they all meant to each other, it only puts them all in more danger. So, Kihyun put up a front, one of nonchalance and cold eyes.

But then he found out he'd be sharing a cell with Minhyuk now, and he let out a small squeak of happiness.

"Minnie..." he whispered, hoping his soft call made its way to the top bunk. "You up...?"

A deep chuckled came from above him. "I am  _now_."

"Fuck, sorry--"

"Keep it down in there!" a guard called. Kihyun slapped a hand over his mouth, looking up as he heard quiet shuffling. Soon enough, Minhyuk was dropping down form his bunk, graceful as a cat and smirking down at Kihyun.

"You could've hurt yourself," Kihyun whispered, but welcomed Minhyuk into his bunk, even if they barely fit.

"Worth it to see you smile; the ladder creaks too much when you use it." Kihyun smiled softly at the warmth surrounding him, nuzzling into his boyfriends neck.  _God_ , he'd missed this. He missed his little sunshine, missed the happiness he brought. He felt Minhyuk's hand move from his back to glide down towards his ass, and when he squeezed a little, Kihyun could only let out a small gasp.

"You can't make a noise, Ki. Don't want to get found out, hm?"  Kihyun knew his boyfriend's words rung true, and that getting caught in such a position would surely make them separate, but he couldn't lie; getting caught in the middle of being ruined by Minhyuk sounded pretty hot. Minhyuk flipped them over so Kihyun was pinned underneath him. 

"Minhy--"

"Shh, baby, I've missed this; let me make you feel good, okay?" Kihyun squirmed again in a last ditch effort to get Minhyuk off of him and just  _sleep_ , but then there were lips pressed against the skin behind his ear and Kihyun just melted into the sheets.

The entire time, Kihyun had to bite down on his arm to muffle the noises coming from his mouth, but he couldn't deny that the small crescent marks on his arm were more than worth the pleasure he received and time with Minhyuk he got to spend. He noticed that Minhyuk didn't get off like he had, and made an effort to reach for him, but the dancer stopped his hand.

"I just wanted to make you feel good, darling." Kihyun blushed, spluttering, but relented when Minhyuk's eyes only became softer with more love. "You know wou probably confused the fuck outta the kid." 

Kihyun popped open one of his eyes. "Who, Im?" He felt Minhyuk nod against his neck. "Why?"

"Well, one second you're making a salty comment about his spontaneous loyalty, and the next you're handing him your food. It's a very mixed message."

"You know how much I care about you guys," Kihyun said softly. "I have to make sure people know they can't fuck with you."

"Even Hyungwon and Hoseok?"

"Of course. They're with us now, and that means I look out for them." He brought a hand up to pet Minhyuk's hair back, smiling when the latter hummed. "I just needed to make sure Lim knows he can't threaten that."

"And he won't, Ki, you know that." Kihyun hummed, because yes, he supposed he did; he just didn't come this far to have it all ruined. "You... you really think we can do it? Get back to our lives?"

Kihyun scoffed. "I hate to break it to you, Minnie, but our old lives as we know them are over. But," he continued when he felt Minhyuk frown, "we can get out and start a new one. Wolves from their own broken packs forming a new one." He pressed a kiss to Minhyuk's snow-white hair. "Doesn't that sound a  _little_ nice?" Minhyuk hummed, voice wavering in uncertainty, but Kihyun knew there wouldn't be much protest from the dancer.

o.O.o

Jooheon was sitting stiffly atop his equally stiff bunk bed, looking down at Hyunwoo with a mix of admiration and fear. His eyes couldn't leave the flexing muscles as Hyunwoo peeled down the top half of the jumpsuit, tightening the drawstrings when his torso was bare.

"Yes?" Jooheon jumped--almost face planting on the stained concrete, but that was a minor detail--eyes widening in shock. "You're staring at me."

"Um." Nice Jooheon.  _Very nice_.

"If you're uncomfortable with me--"

"No!" Jooheon immediately covered his mouth in fear of having been heard, but there was no bang on the bars, so he assumed he was home free. "I just... you're very nice to look at. But also very intimidating." Hyunwoo nodded, sitting down on his own bunk. "Why  _are_ you so jacked?"

There was a breathy laugh from beneath him, but nothing else. The silence drew on for a while and Jooheon just assumed the other man fell asleep, but then Hyunwoo was speaking again. "I couldn't protect my boyfriend. Stressed me out. Needed to work out said stress." Jooheon twisted himself so his head was hanging below the bed.

"Boyfriend?"

"Minhyuk. You know. White hair." 

Jooheon knew all too well. "You're not a man of many words, are you?"

"Not particularly, no." Hyunwoo didn't even look his way as he spoke. "You should probably sit up straight. Don't want the blood rushing to your head."

"Oh god, I thought I left my dad behind." The other man cracked a smile at that, but still didn't look Jooheon's way. "So, what's it like having two boyfriends?"

Ah,  _that_ got his attention. "How'd you--"

"I'm attentive. You'll learn that." Jooheon squirmed, adjusting himself. "So?"

"It's not really about the numbers," Hyunwoo murmured. "It's about knowing there's two people to love and support you. It's having more than one person to look at you objectively and tell you what's best for you and what's not." Hyunwoo's lips quirked up again, softer this time. "It's being able to say people share your heart and you share theirs."

"So, if I want to get you to speak more than five words at a time I have to get you to talk about Minhyuk and Kihyun? Got it."

Jooheon promptly avoided the dense pillow thrown his way.

o.O.o

Changkyun watched Hoseok's movements with uninterested eyes, even though he wanted to know everything about the elder.

"How'd you end up in here?" Is what he said, watching carefully for Hoseok's body language.

"Shot a guy."

"I'm going to guess for a  _reason_."

Hoseok chuckled, nodding as he locked eyes with Changkyun. "It was. And I'm guessing you want to know that reason?" Changkyun nodded eagerly. "Well... I think I ended up  _really_ liking a man I barely knew." The younger got off his bunk to get on Hoseok's level. "I mean, it's hard to not be attracted him on a physical level; he's  _beautiful_. But... something just drew me in about him. His smirk and his little laugh and  _fuck_ I barely knew him for a night before I was killing a man for him."

"Sometimes you just know." Hoseok looked up at him, eyes lost and confused. "I get it, you know, wanting to give it all for someone just based on a feeling. It's scary, terrifying, but I can tell Hyungwon feels the same, even if he doesn't show it."

"How did you...?" Changkyun smiled softly, shifting awkwardly in his standing spot across from Hoseok.

"It's easy to see how much you two care for each other. You love him a lot."

Hoseok shook his head frantically, waving his hands in disagreement. "I don't--love's a really-- _love is a strong word_." Changkyun laughed softly at Hoseok's panic, but he shook his head.

"Come on, Hoseok, you have to admit that there's some form of love at play here." Changkyun didn't get a response, but it was clear a part of Hoseok agree with him.

When Hoseok started snoring, Changkyun took it as his sign to climb back up to his bunk. Halfway up the ladder, though, he heard murmuring from who he could only assume were the guards.

"You remember what the boss told you?"

"Kill Son and his little band of misfits, make sure they don't live to see another second. I know." Their footfalls neared their cell, and Changkyun scrambled to make it look like he was asleep. They stopped outside their door, Changkyun's heart pounding against his rib cage and his mind racing. "We gotta do it all at once, though. Make it clean and quick."

"Why we gotta kill them again?"

"We don't ask the questions, Bill, we only take orders." They walked away, leaving Changkyun to hop off the top bunk--his knees strongly disagreed with the motion--and shake Hoseok awake.


	5. Fighting Back and Trying to Survive

Hoseok and Changkyun tried their best to act normal as they walked to their usual spot at the table they shared with the others, but there was the nagging feeling that every single guard in the place was corrupt and out to kill them. Hoseok had taken the information from last night pretty well, considering his life was on the line, but it was slowly becoming more evident that he was panicking just as Changkyun was. They arrived at the table to catch Hyungwon bitching about his cell mate, Hoseok sitting across from Kihyun and Changkyun taking his spot next to Jooheon.

"So," Hoseok started, "you all need to stay as calm as possible." The only person that raised an eyebrow was Jooheon. Changkyun placed a hand on his knee, silently telling the elder to listen and keep a neutral face. "But I'm almost certain that there's a target on our backs." 

"Who is it?" Minhyuk asked, shoveling food into his mouth.

"Guards. Might be impersonators, might be corrupt," Hoseok explained, earning a nod from Hyunwoo.

"They say when?"

"They want us all together. Something about it being clean and quick." All eyes turned to Changkyun when he spoke, but he didn't pay them any mind. "Our best bet is to find as many things to make into shivs as we can and  _hide them_ the best we can. Discretely, of course, because they can't know we know."

Kihyun arched a brow at the youngest, but he soon smirked and nodded. "Kid's smart. And oddly calm." Changkyun laughed sheepishly.

"I'm so panicked Icalm, believe me."

Jooheon let out a small sigh. "So what do we do? We have plastic spoons and that's about it. I haven't seen a single toothbrush or sharp thing since I've been here." Kihyun looked somewhere beyond Hoseok, on the farther end of the room, and he seemed to settle on something in his mind.

"Yeah, but there's someone who has." Kihyun rose from his seat, looking down when Hyunwoo gripped his leg.

" _Don't_ ," is all the elder said. "He'd going to demand a favour from you."

"I don't care, Hyunwoo."

" _I_ do." There was such raw emotion in Hyunwoo's eyes that took everyone but Minhyuk by surprise. "I don't want you to be forced into something you don't want."

In a rare show of amusement, Kihyun's lips quirked up. "I'll be fine. If he makes some strange demand I'll just walk away." Leaving before his boyfriend could get another word in, Kihyun made a beeline for the table at the end of the room. Hyunwoo's eyes followed Kihyun until his could no longer be seen, turning to the rest of the group with a sigh.

"How many of you have handled a knife before?"

Hyungwon hummed, a sleepy smile gracing his full lips. "It  _isn't_ just stabby-stabby?" Hyunwoo glared at Hyungwon, who only grinned. "But I think I can get the gist of it."

"They'll have  _guns_ ," Jooheon muttered. " _Guns_ , people. I don't think shivs are going to do it."

"It's all we'll have." Jooheon deflated at Hoseok's words, placing his head in his hands.

"Oh, that's it, I'm dying."

Changkyun turned to Jooheon with a soft smile, shaking his head. "Not on my watch."

Kihyun rejoined them in that moment, and Jooheon noted that there was something stiff,  _off_ , about his posture and gait.

"I got us knives and pistols."

Hyunwoo's eyes bugged out of his head as he turned to Kihyun. "Kihyun Yoo what the fuck did you  _do_."

"I just owe him a favour in the future." Minhyuk cut Hyunwoo off before the eldest could say anything else, the air at the table tense.

"He did what he had to do, Hyun, and you know you'd do the same thing if it was you that went over there." Kihyun placed his left ankle on his other knee, arms shifting and suddenly there was something cold and metallic being pressed into Hoseok's hand.

"You got in here cause you shot someone, and you're going to get  _out_ , shooting someone," he explained, voice barely above a whisper and almost lost in the murmur of the room. Jooheon choked a little on his food, but he repressed the urge to cough lest they draw attention to themselves. Minhyuk was handed the other gun, while the others all had knives pressed into their palms.

"So what the _hell_ do we do when they decide to attack us?" Hyungwon murmured, mimicking Kihyun's attempt at concealing his weapon.

"You stabby-stabby," Changkyun teased, voice deep and  _yeah_ , he deserved the shove Hyungwon sent his way. "No but seriously, just do your best; it's not like you have time to train, anyway."

Hyungwon turned to Kihyun with an unimpressed glare. "I don't know where you found this kid, but you need to put him back because his sass is too much stress for me." 

Kihyun didn't dignify him with a response, instead turning to Changkyun. "This is your last chance to back out, kid." His eyes dragged over to Jooheon. "You, too, Lee." The youngest two shared a look, coming to a conclusion and turning to the rest of the group.

"We're in," Jooheon said, determination in his eyes. Changkyun nodded in agreement, even though his gaze didn't showcase as much emotion.

"Alright then," Minhyuk started, "let's get to work."

They took the burnt string beans from their tray, breaking them apart and forming a makeshift model of the prison. They were each represented by a small piece of cucumber, while their supposed opponents were pieces from the gravy, as Hyunwoo and Hyungwon decided on a strategy. If they were noticed by other inmates or security guards, they weren't stopped. A solid plan was formed by the time they were asked to head back to their cells. They didn't share looks, didn't ask for confirmation of their plan, just walked like any other day.

All seven waited with bated breath to see if today was the day they would be attacked, and two guards standing outside each of their doors confirmed their suspicions. As they walked out into the hallway, Changkyun counted all six of his companions in front of him, one of the guards shoving him to walk faster. 

They ended up in a secluded corner of the prison that smelled of mold and had no security cameras to be seen. Hoseok heard the rustling of fabric, the small  _click_ of a gun, and he grabbed the pistol from his shoe out of reflex; the movement set off a chain reaction for the rest of the people in the room, knifes and guns pointed at each other.

"Looks like you fuckers heard us last night," a familiar voice said; Changkyun recognized it as the guard from outside his and Hoseok's door. "Knew we should have have killed you then and there."

"You don't have to do this, you know," Hyunwoo reasoned, still holding his knife with an iron grip and looking all too comfortable wielding the weapon.

"Cut with the high and mighty shit; you're prison scum and you don't deserve the respect you're asking for." 

There were footsteps coming up behind Hoseok, and  _fuck_ , he forgot about the eighth guard. Panic started to rise in his chest because if he took his gun off one guard, he'd get shot, but if he let the last guard approach him, he  _also_ get shot.

This is not the ideal situation.

But then there was a  _shink_ and a thump and the guards became distracted so Minhyuk and Hoseok started shooting down the guards. Hyunwoo and Changkyun went around to the collapsed guard's, slitting their throats to ensure they'd stay down, while Hyungwon was disarming the guards with hand-to-hand combat. He grunted when a guard kneed him in his gut, and suddenly Hoseok was transported to a year ago when he was shooting down Hyungwon's boss. With aim he didn't know he had, he shot the guard between the eyes. Without even waiting for the body to drop he was walking over to Hyungwon to make sure he was okay. Changkyun walked over, bent himself at the waist and stabbed the knife down into the guards throat.    

Hoseok turned to Hyungwon with wide eyes, and the latter only shrugged.

"You're too pretty to get shot."

"You can throw  _knives_?" Hoseok asked as he mimicked Kihyun's actions. He only got a shrug from Hyungwon.

"Not particularly. I panicked and just threw it."

Hyunwoo walked over to Hyungwon, dressed fully in the guard uniform and crossing his arms. "Which could have been very  _dangerous_ for all of us if you _missed_." Hyungwon adjusted the belt of his uniform as he locked eyes with the eldest.

"But I didn't."

"We can save the lectures for later, Hyun," Minhyuk called. "We gotta get going if we want to make it out of here in one piece." A quick check around the room told Hyunwoo that all seven of them were dressed in the guards' uniforms, so he nodded and started to walk out. They took the emptiest route just as alarms started to go off.

Looks like the bodies were found.

They started sprinting towards the doors, getting their key cards out to be able to leave when a shot rang out. "Stop!"

Jooheon cursed under his breath as he tripped over his own feet. Luckily Hyunwoo was right there beside him to make sure he stayed upright. With the hand that wasn't on Jooheon he shot the lock, and before the sheet of metal could crash down in the doorway he placed himself underneath it. He groaned as the barrier collided with his back, but then he was counting six men on the other side of the metal door and he let out a sigh of relief as he shifted, letting the door drop.

"Fuck, Hyunwoo, you could've gotten seriously hurt," Kihyun panted out, but there was way too much Adrenaline coursing through the elder to feel the soreness and pain in his muscles. He called for them all to run as he heard loud bangs from behind the door, dragging along Jooheon by the arm, who seemed the most rattled of the seven.

They really didn't know where they were going, actually; no on had thought they would get this far in their plan, but there they were, sprinting like wild animals finally freed from their cages.

How fitting.

Their legs were burning at that point, fatigue fighting to take over their body in place of the fight or flight instinct, but they pushed themselves, screamed at their bodies to take them as far as it could from the hell they'd been living in for  _too long_. Kihyun was the first to collapse onto the ground, groaning in pain and panting as his lungs tried desperately to fill themselves with oxygen again. It signaled them all to stop, to let their muscles rest and recuperate from the strain they'd just been under. Looking around, Hoseok noticed they were in a forest; it actually made sense, considering it made the prison all the more remote than it already was. The only sounds that filled the air was ragged panting and the small, sweet chirps of birds, and Hoseok  _significantly_  preferred the latter.

It surprised to him to know that he actually  _could_ remember the last time he'd heard that, what with all the stories he'd heard of people not knowing what it was like to be beyond with walls of the prison anymore. It brought back memories of early morning walks to the ravine with his father; the sound of rushing water still rang fresh in his mind, but he supposed that was because he treasured those moments he was allowed with his father. He still got nightmares, sometimes, about the blood seeping from the gunshot wound in his father's sternum, the deep crimson ruining his crisp, freshly-ironed button down he always wore to work.

You'd think he'd stray from guns, never even want to look at them again, but there was something so wonderfully poetic about bringing other people to the demise that his father had that made him turn to them. 

And it wasn't like he went around killing people, hunting for blood, but he still got a license, still went to the shooting range and perfected his aim until he only made one hole in the target with two whole rounds.

He supposed it would be a highly valued skill at this point in the game.

" _Fuck_ ," he heard Hyungwon curse, "we got  _out_."

Yes, yes they did. But if only they knew how much easier it would have been to just serve their sentence.


	6. ...Well Fuck

They hadn't thought this through, not really. They hadn't planned out where to get their fake IDs, passports, anything; getting out was a priority, and now that they were, they had every intention to  _stay that way_.

The first step? Getting rid of the jumpsuits.

What they were about to do made them feel guilty beyond belief, but they really had no other choice if they didn't want to go back to prison. So, with a small huff, Kihyun and Changkyun went about picking the lock to the charity box for clothing down the street. Jooheon and Hyunwoo kept their eyes on the road to make sure no one would see them, but they had waited until night fell, so the probability of getting caught was lower.

With a small smirk and 'aha' from Changkyun, the door popped open. The two of them sifted through the boxes and only took what they absolutely needed, with Kihyun making a mental note to donate right back to the same box when they had the resources to do so.

The second step? Getting rid of their crazy-ass hair.

"But I love my white hair!" Minhyuk cried, looking over the bottles of dark hair dye.

"You looked like an old man anyway." Hoseok snickered at Hyungwon's comment, but Minhyuk seemed significantly less amused.

"You don't under _stand_ ," he whined. "Hyun  _loves_ my white hair."

"I'm sure he loves not drawing attention to ourselves even more, Mr. Lee." With a resigned huff, Minhyuk grabbed one of the amber browns from the higher shelf.

"You can call me Minhyuk, cutie." Hoseok wasn't expecting the wink sent his way, and as a result he was frozen in place until Hyungwon came and dragged him along. The younger's eyes were narrowed and his jaw was set in anger--

"Are you  _jealous_?"

"Damn straight, I'm jealous," he muttered. "I just spent way too much of my life not being able to fuck you and kiss you like I want and here is this  _bastard_ calling you  _cutie_ \--"

"Wonnie," Hoseok said softly, smiling to himself as he saw the tips of Hyungwon's ears go red, "you can kiss me whenever you damn-well feel like it."

"And the fucking. That was nice.

"Am I just a hunk of _muscle_ to you, Mr. Chae?" Hoseok teased, and he had to stifle a laugh when the taller man looked to him with an offended glare.

"You know better than that, Seok."

"I do," Hoseok hummed, resisting the urge to bring Hyungwon closer to his side and kiss his temple.

"It was." 

They followed Minhyuk out of the building, pulling on their hoodies over their baseball caps and doing their best to stay hidden.

"Okay, so  _now_ where do we go?" Jooheon murmured, crossing his arms over his chest to protect himself from the cold.

"You follow me," a strange voice called, and all seven men were soon on guard. The stranger looked to Hoseok though, and smirked. "What, kid, you don't remember me?"

"I try to get rid of the uncle who killed my dad from my memory." Then  _all_ eyes were on him, and if he wasn't mistaken he heard a small _'wow, we're just all sorts of fucked up, this group'_ from Changkyun.

"Oh, now  _that's_ not fair. I'm even offering you a place to stay, Seokie."

"Don't call me that," Hoseok hissed. His uncle put his hands up in surrender, but still looked to the rest of the group.

"I could offer you shelter and some time to gather your thoughts, if you just come with me." The rest of the group's eyes hadn't left Hoseok, who started to walk towards his uncle.

"You pull any funny business, or  _hurt them_ in any way, shape, or _form_ , I  _will_ hurt you right back,  _uncle_." His uncle had the decency to look a little frightened, gulping as he turned to lead the rest of the group away.

Jooheon jogged up to him, concern in his eyes for the man in front of him. "Your uncle isn't... in the  _mafia_ , is he?" he whispered.

o.O.o

"I was  _kidding_!" Jooheon whispered, looking around in panic at the sleek building coming into view, two people standing guard with rifles in their hands.

"And I wish you weren't right, Jooheon," Hoseok said. He shook his head as his uncle exchanged words with the guards; this was  _so far_ from how he planned their escape to go he may just break down in tears.

"Do you want to  _explain this_ , Shin?" Kihyun didn't sound too please with Hoseok, and he supposed that was fair, but it didn't mean he had to like the angry look in his sharp eyes.

"I promise I will later, okay? But if I say anything more he might  _hear_ ," he said, doing his best to keep his voice low enough to not be heard by his uncle. Kihyun was about to open his mouth again, probably to verbally beat Hoseok over the head, but Minhyuk was placing a hand on his shoulder with a small smile.

"Kihyun, we're going to have to put more trust into them if we're going to stay okay, hm?" Kihyun struggled, looking to his boyfriend with conflicted eyes, but then he sighed and turned back to Hoseok with a significantly kinder gaze.

"Just don't get us killed, okay? I quite like the fresh air out here." Before Hoseok could respond, they were being called in by his uncle.

The entire building was dark, not necessarily due to the lighting, but the grey of the walls and the black tile of the floor. They trekked trough hallways upon hallways and eventually came to a stop outside of a door.

"This is a suite; clean up, fix your hair, whatever. I'll be back tomorrow morning." Changkyun took Kihyun and Minhyuk to fix up their hair while Hyunwoo took off the shirt he was wearing.

"Is that just a thing you do? Take off your shirt before you sleep?" Jooheon asked, head tilted in curiosity. Hyunwoo flushed as he looked away, but still set his shirt on one of the nightstands.

"You make it sound like it's so weird to sleep without a shirt," he said softly, but he was already sitting down on the bed and looking at Hoseok seriously. "So, tell us what the hell this place is."

"I shouldn't wait for Kihyun to get back?"

"You don't start talking now and I'm beating your ass, kid!" Kihyun called.

"I'm older than you!?" Hoseok shouted. Asked? A mix of both, he supposed.

" _Hoseok_ ," Hyunwoo pressed, and Hoseok sighed as he plopped down on the arm chair on the other side of the room.

"My dad, he was... a part of a gang. The mafia. Whatever you want to call them. I could tell he though I didn't know, but I'd smell the blood on his skin or the smoke in his hair, or notice when he'd come back home in a totally different shirt. I never understood it, I guess, because he was so  _kind_ ; he'd buy my mother flowers just because, and he'd take me to the park on the weekends. He taught me how to be kind, and I guess I just never thought he could be a bad person." He paused, and the silence that stretched out across the room was so much louder than anything they could say. "And I guess he still was, considering we weren't shot on arrival--"

"That's a thing that can  _happen_ \--?" Hyungwon smacked Jooheon over the head for interrupting.

"--but... I don't trust my uncle."

"You said he killed your dad," Changkyun called over the running water in the sink, "why?"

"He said something about not prioritizing the business; spending too much time with me and my mom. Even my uncle thought I didn't know what went on, but I did. I knew that he wanted to be the leader and my dad was just getting in the way. I knew he wanted to get us out of the picture, but I never,  _ever_ thought that he would kill me father for it." Hoseok propped up a foot on one of the armrests, looking up at the bathroom door with lost eyes. "I don't like the fact that he brought us here; if I know anything about the bastard, and I do, it's that he doesn't know how to handle being the boss and he wants to pawn off the responsibility to me."

"Would you take it?" Hyungwon asked quietly.

"I... don't know. It'd give us a good cover; keep us safe until we figure out just  _how_ to survive out here."

"And if we  _don't_? We're stuck in your personal little hell hole?" Minhyuk asked, coming out of the room with the hair dye sticking his hair to his forehead.

"You think I  _want_ to do this? I  _really don't_. But I also have no intention of getting handcuffs slapped on my wrists and thrown back into that smell that smells really bad."

"What even  _was that_..?" Changkyun muttered, looking as sour as Hoseok felt.

"Someone definitely died in there, that's all I'm saying." Hoseok looked to everyone else in the room, Kihyun walking out of the room and hair looking exactly like Minhyuk's. "So, is this the part where I'm exiled, forced to leave and never come back?"

"Oh fuck off, Shin, this isn't the goddamn Lion King," Kihyun said, leaning back on his hands. "If anything you bought us time to gather our thoughts, so... good job."

"That's his way of saying 'thank you', Hoseok," Minhyuk teased, welcoming the shove he got from his boyfriend.

"Well, we'll be completely useless to each other if we don't start getting some sleep, so let's head to... the floor?" Hyunwoo sighed to himself. "How did he put us in a room with only  _one bed_."

"That's just cliché as fuck," Hyungwon said.

"Well if you guys aren't going to take it, I will," Changkyun called, throwing himself onto the bed.

"Hey--!" Hyunwoo brought Kihyun's back to his chest, kissing his neck with a small smile playing at his lips.

"One, you have to wash that die out of your hair, and two, he's still a kid. Let him milk it for what it's worth."

"He's eight _een_ \--"

"Ki," Minhyuk started, "I actually want to sleep with you both, and we can't do that on the bed." With a small grumble, Kihyun shifted and made himself more comfortable against Hyunwoo's back as Minhyuk placed himself to their right. Fifteen minutes later, Hyunwoo took both of his boyfriends to the bathroom to wash out the dye in their hair out.

Jooheon tentatively climbed onto the bed next to Changkyun, trying his best to not wake him up--

"Jooheon, I'm not that quick to fall asleep," the younger teased, turning over to lock eyes with Jooheon. "Come on, I've missed you. I haven't gotten to hold you in a while." Jooheon flushed crimson as he moved closer to Changkyun--

"Holy fuck I'm taller than you."

"You say that again and I'm going to  _hit you_."

"That a threat or a promise?"

Changkyun let out a frustrated noise before burrowing his face in Jooheon's neck. "I still get to hold you, m'kay?" Jooheon smiled softly, petting Changkyun's head.

"Always."

Soon they were asleep, and the other three were still in the bathroom, so Hyungwon took the opportunity to place himself on Hoseok's lap. "This is my bed, goodnight."

"You're gonna be so sore, though," Hoseok said, laughing at how Hyungwon only pressed himself further into him.

"I'm just banking on the fact that you're going to be in more pain than I am."

"Touché."

"You know," Hyungwon whispered, "you remind me of your dad, from what you've told me; loyal and caring. I think it's why I like you so much."

"Oh?"

Hyungwon hummed in response, but his voice was lowering as sleep tugged at his consciousness, leaving Hoseok the only person awake in the room. He stroked Hyungwon's back, doing his best to work the stress out of the muscles without rousing the younger awake. He looked up when he heard the door open, Minhyuk sleepily making his way to their designated corner of the room. Carefully setting Hyungwon down on the armchair in the position he hoped would cause the least cramps, he headed for the shower. He knew the noise wouldn't wake any of them, what with the noises they had to put up with in prison. He turned the tap all the way to the left, wincing as the scalding water cascaded down onto his skin and turned it an irritated red. He tried his best to scrub his hands and his body, to get rid of the feeling of blood pouring over his hands and seeping into his  _Cars_ t-shirt.

No matter the reason his uncle had to bring him here, Hoseok would make sure he payed the price due for his actions.


End file.
